Mohat lawsuit against Mentor Schools dismissed

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Eric Mohat, the Mentor teen who was allegedly bullied into committing suicide, has been dismissed.

In the dismissal, which was issued this month, U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent found that because Mentor High School did not have a "special relationship" with the teen, they did not have a "heightened level of responsibility for his care and protection."

"Therefore, although it is certainly reasonable for parents to expect that the school will do its best to protect their children while they are under the school's supervision, the law does not elevate this expectation to a constitutional guarantee," the judge wrote.

According to the initial lawsuit, after months of persistent bullying in math class, the 17-year-old Mohat shot himself on March 29, 2007.

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Two years later, Eric's parents, Bill and Janis Mohat, filed suit on behalf of their son, claiming the school district violated Eric's civil right to safety, as well as the family's 14th Amendment rights to raise and educate Eric in a safe environment.

However, Nugent wrote that the district should not be held liable for the actions of Mohat's peers.

"The Complaint asserts that the Board failed to train its employees on the proper procedures to handle bullying, but as set forth above, the school's failure to stop third parties from harming Eric (in this case the bullies, and/or Eric, himself), although tragic and possibly preventable, does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation."

The Mentor School Board, Superintendent Jacqueline Hoynes, Mentor High School Principal Joe Spiccia and math teacher Thomas Horvath were listed as defendants in the case.

Following the dismissal, the school system issued a statement.

"Mentor Public Schools learned today U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent granted a motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit filed by the Mohat family against the district and some of its employees. This decision will not end our ongoing commitment to train our staff and students with anti-bullying and mental health education initiatives. Our deepest sympathy remains with the Mohat family grieving the loss of their son."

Kenneth Myers, the Mohats' attorney, said he plans to meet with the parents this week to decide on a course of action.

Though the case was dismissed in federal court, Nugent did so without prejudice and the case could be refiled in state court.

"It's a decision that leaves us some room to make decisions," Myers said. "It was a dismissal, but it wasn't slamming the door shut tight."

Myers also represents the family of Sladjana Vidovic, another Mentor teen who committed suicide after allegedly being persistently bullied. That case, also assigned to Nugent, continues in U.S. District Court.